lamprey



(No Model.) s Sheets-Sheet 2.

B. B. LAMPREY & A. O. BUGBEE.

KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 883,817. Patented May 29, 1888.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

B. B. LAMPREY '8: A. C. BUGBEE.

KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 383,817. Patented May 29, 1888.

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UNrrno STATES BENJAMIN B. LAMPREY AND ALMON O. BUGBEE,- OF LAKE VILLAGE,NE\V HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNORS TO THE LAMPREY MANUFACTURING COMPANY.

MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 383,817, dated May 29,1888.

Application filed July 5, 1887. Serial No. 243,340. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that W6,BENJAMIN B. LAMPREY and ALMON G. BUGBEE, of LakeVillage, in the county ofBelknap and State of New Hampshire, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvementsin Knitting-Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to knitting-machines adapted to the production ofstriped goods,

to and, as here shown, it is particularly applicable to circularrib-knitting machines.

It is the object of our invention to provide improved means forautomatically operating and controlling the operations of two yarns ofdifi'erent colors in such manner that a tubular fabric can be producedhaving alternate stripes of different colors and of any desired widthrepeated to the end of the tube without stopping the machine to changethe yarns to throw one color out of action and anotherinto action.

It is desirable and, indeed, essential in machines of the kind mentionedthat the means for feeding the yarns to the needles and for changing thecolors should operate with abso- 5 lute certainty, since if the new yarnis not brought into action at exactly the proper point imperfectworkwill be produced, and the same thing will result if the yarn thrown outof action is not properly severed and controlled.

3 By our improvements the ends of exactness and certainty of operationare attained, and the machine at the same time made exceedingly simplein construction, so as to be economic of manufacture and not liable toget out of repair.

Although in the subsequent description the invention will be set forthas applied to circular rib-knitting machines, it will appear 0bvious tothose skilled in the art that its use 4 is not necessarily confined tothis particular type of machines, but may by the exercise of meremechanical skill be applied to other kinds of machines.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings,and to theletters ofreference marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the sameletters indicating the same parts wherever they occur.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 represents a front elevation of a circularrib-knitting machine embodying our invention. Fig. 2 represents a topplan view of the same. Fig. 3 represents a side elevation, the Viewbeing taken at right angles to that represented in Fig. 1. Fig. at is adetail view showing the yarn-severing knife in a different position fromthat in which it is pictured in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail view,hereinafter referred to. Fig. 6 is a detail view showing modified meansfor connecting the yarn-carriers.

In the drawings, A designates the bed or frame; B, the rotarycam-cylinder; G, the needle cylinder; D, the dial-plate for thehorizontal needles; E, the rotary cam-dial,whereby the horizontalneedles are operated; and F, 6 3 the arch or yoke connecting the rotarycamcylinder B with the cam-dial E through the medium of spindle or shaftG.

The several part-s mentioned are all of comnoon and well-knownconstruction, and may be supposed to be fully and regularly equipped forthe production of ribbed work on the cylinder-needles a and dial-needlesb.

c d designate yarn-guides for feeding yarn to the needles, one yarn at atime, and oper- 7 ating in such manner that when one yarn is thrown outof action the other will at the same instant be brought into action.

e-designates a bracket secured .at its lower end to the cam cylinder B,and provided on its upper end with a plate, f, forming a support andguide for the yarn-guides c d, as also a support forone of the elementswhereby the yarn-guides are operated.

Each yarn guide is formed as a rack-bar-- that is, the inner edge ofeach yarnguide is provided with teeth, as shown in dotted lines in Fig.2-and a pinion, g, turning on a stud secured to bed-plate f, is arrangedbetween the yarnguides in such manner as to engage the teeth of thesame, so that when one yarn-guide is moved in one direction the otherwill be moved in the opposite direction, thus throwing one into and theother out of operation. J

The shank of yarn-guide d is a little longer 5 than that of guide 0, andthe outer end of said guide d is loosely engaged by the upper end of abell-crank lever, h, pivoted at h to a bracket,

h, secured to the cam-cylinder. end of bell-crank lever h rests on theface of a cam, i, adapted to turn on a stud,j, secured by the base-ringof the cameylinder.

It represents a toothed or star wheel secured to cam z',and adapted toturn with it on studj.

Cam i is provided with two high points, 1 1, and two low points, 2 2,said points being substantially opposite the four arms or teeth of thestar-wheel, so that if the-said star-wheel should be turnedintermittingly the distance of one tooth each time the lower end oflever h would first ride up on one of the high points of the cam andagain down upon one ofthe low points, (spring at operating to keep thelower end of lever h in contact with cam 6,) with the result of movingyarn-guided in and out radially and operating yarn-guide c in a similarmanner.

In order to retain the cam-wheel i in proper position after being turneda quarter-revolution and until it is again acted upon, I provide saidcam-wheel with aslightly-elongated hub, 6, having V-shapcd or roundednotches i which are engaged by a lug, i on the free end of a spring, isecured to the ledge of the camcylinder 0. As a means for movingstarwheel intermittingly the distance of one tooth at the desired times,we have provided quite simple devices, which we will now proceed todescribe.

Z designates a bell-crank lever, pivoted at Z to a bracket, Z secured tothe frame of the machine, the vertical arm of which lever eX- tendsthrough a slot formed in the base, and the horizontal arm extends outover a patternchain, 11, arranged on and adapted to be carried around bya sprocket-wheel, 0, secured to and turning with a stud or shaft, 19,having bearings in the frame of the machine. Said pattern-chain n isprovided with lugs or swells 17/, adapted to be brought into contactwith the outer end of the horizontal arm of lever Z and rock it upon itspivot or fulcrum Z, so as to bring the upper end of its vertical arm inthe path of travel of star-wheel 70 to impart a quarter-turn thereto andeffect a change in theposition of the yarnguides, as has been described.Sprocket-wheel 0 is rotated to carry patternchain 12 around by meanswhich will next be described.

p designates the main shaft, on which is secured at gear-wheel, q,engaging another gearwheel, q,secured to a shaft, 9*, having bearings inthe frame of the machine and provided on the end adjacent tosprocket-wheel o with a cam, 8, adapted to operate on the upper end of apawl-carrying arm,t, turning loosely on stud or shaft p.

a designates a ratchet-wheel rigidly secured to shaft p,the teeth ofwhich ratchet-wheel are adapted to be engaged by a pawl, o, pivoted tothe upper end of arm it, so as to rotate said ratchet-wheel as said armis oscillated by the operation of cam 8.

By the construction so far described it will The lower be seen that asthe machine is operated ratchet- Wheel a will be rotated,carryingpattern-chain a arouud,and changingthe position oftheyarnguides as oftenas a lug or swell, n, is brought in contact with the horizontal arm oflever Z.

\Vehave employed other means and arrangement of parts to effect arotation of ratchet wheel a; but that here shown and described is deemedsufficient to give an understanding of the manner of making and usingthe invention. WVhen a change of yarns is effected, the yarn thrown outof action is severed at the proper point, and this result we accomplishby the means now to be explained.

w designates an arm pivoted to a braeket,0c, secured to cam dial E. Saidarm is provided on its inner end with a sharp knife-edge, adapted toenter a crease or groove which is perfectly formed in the edge of thecam-dial at the point where the knife rests against it.

y designates a vertically-moving rod supported by and having a bearingin a bracket, a, secured to the base of the cam-cylinder. Said rod isloosely connected at its upper end with the outer end of arm to, and isprovided on its lower end with a shoe, y, resting on the base A. Aspring, 10, connected at its upper end with arm to and at its lower endwith bracket 2, serves to hold the outer end of arm 20 down upon theupper end of rod 3 and the shoe y down upon the base A, in whichposition the knife will be held against the edge of the dial-cam E, ashas been explained. It is now noted,also,that the shoe y travels on thesame circumferential line as the star-wheel k. The operation of themachine may now be explained as follows: The yarn in operation will befed to the needles by its yarn-guide in proper position for the purposeuntil a cam lug or swell, a, on the 'patternchain 12, comes in contactwith the horizontal arm of lever Z,

ICO

when said lever will be rocked on its pivot or ITO passing star-wheel kthe upper end of the vertical arm of lever Z will come in contact withthe upturned or inclined end of shoei, pass under said shoe, and raiserod y with the effect of opening the knife, as represented in Fig. 4.This operation will be effected at the moment that the yarn thrown outof action will be drawn on alinebetweentheknifeandcam-dial E, when theupper end of lever 2 will pass from under shoe 1/ and permit the knifeto close, as represented in Fig. 3, severing the yarn and holding thesevered end until the yarn-guides are again operated for the purpose ofchanging the yarns, as before explained.

By the construction and arrangement of devices as here shown the yarnthrown out of action is severed quite near to the point where theneedles rise to catch the yarn to form loops or Stitches therefrom, thusinsuring the complete knitting in of the cut end and avoiding thenecessity of employing a brush or other device to brush the cut end intothe hooks of the needles, it being well understood by knitting artisansthat if the cut end were not com pletely knit into the fabric imperfectwork would be produced.

Instead of employing a pinion, 9, between the guides 0 cl to secure themovement of one by moving the other, we may employ asmall lever, g,pivoted on the platefof bracket 6, and loosely connected at its endswith the shanks of the yarnguides, as represented in Fig. 6.

Changes may be made in the form and arrangement of parts constitutingour'invention without departing from the nature or spirit thereof.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is-- 1. The needlesand their supports, a rotary cam-oylinder and cam-dial, two yarn-guides,devices, substantially as described, between said yarn-guides, wherebywhen one guide is moved in one direction the other willbe moved in theopposite direction, a lever fulcrumed on the cylinder, a cam adapted toturn on apivot secured to the cam-cylinder, said lever being looselyconnected at one end with one of said yarn-guides and in contact at theother end with said cam, and suitable devices for intermittinglyoperating said cam, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

2. The cam-cylinder, aeain-dial, a knife-arm pivoted on said cam'dialand having its knifeedge adapted to contact with said dial, avertically-movable rod loosely connected at its upper end with saidknife-arm, and devices, substantially as' described, for intermittinglyraising said rod, combined and operating sub stantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 28th day of June, A. D.1887.

BEN. 13. LAMPREY.

ALMON C. BUGBEE.

\Vitnesses:

E. L. CHENEY, F. P. WEBSTER.

